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The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs spoke with many people from around the world of hockey Friday to gather their reactions to the retirement of Red Fisher:

Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner: “When I think of Red, I think of the fact that there’s probably nobody more knowledgeable, more connected to the game, more passionate about the game and more devoted to the history of the game. Red has transcended the careers of so many great players, particularly in Montreal. He has lived through generations and the evolution of this game. I have nothing but respect and personal admiration for him. There’s nobody more entitled to (retirement) than Red. He’s given so much of himself and his life to this game. I think he’s irreplaceable and we’re grateful for all of his contributions. People in sports get judged by their longevity and nobody in any aspect of our game has a longevity like Red’s.”

Geoff Molson, Canadiens principal owner: “I had lunch with Red very recently to get to know him a little better. He knew my family quite well. He knew my great-uncle, Senator Hartland Molson, very well, and obviously those were the days when we were winning lots of Stanley Cups. He travelled with the team, a little differently back then, and spent a lot of time with people, and with my Uncle Hartland. Here I am, three generations later, having lunch with this guy and that’s pretty amazing. The reason I wanted to meet with Red is because he’s so full of information that could help me in my future here. I wanted to get his perspective on his history with owners of this team, especially my family, and how he experienced it in the past and his thoughts about how it should be experienced in the future. It was a really interesting lunch – Red told me a lot of great stories that I didn’t know. He’s seen everything. He’s a man of integrity and the way he tells stories, the way he positions them, is always in a way that integrity comes first. Some call him stubborn but I call him someone who has principles, and he’s stuck with them and followed them. As I listened, as he was telling me stories, his guidance to me was to maintain that high level of integrity – to make sure you continue to respect people for the right reasons, whether they be journalists, players, coaches, whomever. His examples went back three generations of Molsons. He’s seen us operate. He knows I’m young, but when he tells me stories about his experiences with my great-uncle, Hartland, and my grandfather, Thomas, he’s telling them for a reason. He’s picking stories to send messages, for sure.”

George Gillett Jr., former Canadiens owner: “Red’s a genius, a legend, a man with great memories who was kind enough to share them with his readers. His perspective was unique. He may be the longest-serving sportswriter at a major daily in North America. Every great community has a conscience and every great sports team has a conscience. I think Red was, in a very unique way, the conscience of sports in Montreal and particularly the Canadiens.

Jacques Demers, coach of 1993 Canadiens, the last Habs team to win the Stanley Cup: Red is the greatest hockey writer in the history of the NHL and among the greatest sportswriters of all time. He’s a legend, an icon. He opened the door to so many reporters who looked up to him. One thing about Red is he had a sense of humour. You could kid with him. And nobody was like Red to get a scoop. And he did it without blasting people. He didn’t make his name by blasting people and putting people down. If you did something he didn’t like, he’d write it. But after reading his story, you were the one who wanted to change. You felt that if Red wrote it, you didn’t blame the writer. Maybe it’s me who should look myself in the mirror. Nobody comes close to Red. He’s in his own unique place. Others were good but Red is by far the greatest hockey writer of all time.”

Jean Béliveau, former Canadiens captain: Red’s very fortunate that he’s able to still do at almost 86 what he’s enjoyed all his life. He’s had a lot of connections that he could call almost anyone at any time. If Red wrote a negative article about you, you knew that he was probably right, that you were going through a tough time or being too lazy on the ice. If you wanted to know something, you’d give Red a call and he always had an idea. He had so much experience that hockey people – general managers and owners of other franchises – knew they’d have a fair, honest assessment of what Red was thinking.”

Henri Richard, former Canadiens captain: “He’s retiring, eh? (laughs) Red told me that when I retired from hockey that he would, too. That was about 35 years ago. I really like Red, he’s something else. I was pretty good friends with him. He was all right, he was a good friend to me in hockey. Last time I saw him, I just said, “For chrissakes, Red, are you still working?”

Serge Savard, former Canadiens captain: Red had a pretty good run, eh? I was expecting he’d write a farewell column. He should do that, definitely. He should describe his whole career, the owners and players and all the great events he covered. Those early days weren’t like today. Players became friends with Red and (Montréal-Matin’s) Jacques Beauchamp. They were close to the stars around the league – Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita. Red shouldn’t go without saying goodbye. He had the ability to write his message without hurting anybody. I don’t recall him blasting players, he was very protective of the game and the players. He knew a lot of stuff he would never publish. Not like today, with cameraphones. That’s why the players were so confident with Red. He was fair. Sometimes he had his mind made up about something and you could convince him he was wrong and he would buy it. You look at him and talk to him and he looks like a stubborn guy, but really he’s not. Still today, even though I’ve been away from the game, I still give him a call to go for lunch. I don’t do that with other reporters.”

Yvan Cournoyer, former Canadiens captain: “How many times did Red say he’d retire? (laughs) Red and Jacques Beauchamp were the class of the class. He had the right way to say when someone was playing good or bad. That’s why he was so respected. Not just Montreal players, but all players in the NHL knew Red. He did everything, he covered a lot of things, he knew the game very well and he knew what to write about. Good job, Red.”

Guy Carbonneau, former Canadiens captain: “Red was always somebody who was interesting, honest with everybody. He wasn’t easy to approach, but once you knew him, he was quite a character. I’ve heard of a few stories about Red and Canadiens rookies (laughs) and fortunately I wasn’t one of them.”

Dickie Moore, Canadiens Hall of Famer and lifelong Fisher friend: “He’d been telling me he was going to retire, but … I have a picture on my wall – Red wrote a story about me when I was in junior. My whole family’s in it. Unbelievable. A real family memory. (Long-time mutual friend) Irv Liverman and I would talk Red out of retirement. I told him, ‘You’re going to be gone a long time, don’t be too fast!’ We’ve been around so long together. Red’s always been there when I’ve needed him. You couldn’t find a better friend.”

Dr. David Mulder, long-time Canadiens physician and chief surgeon: “I can remember talking to Red a couple years ago, saying ‘You’re too young to retire.’ He’s a patient of mine but also a very special friend and we go back a long way. I’ve always appreciated his slant on the hockey stories. We’ve disagreed and debated once in awhile but what I’ve admired most is his thoughtful human-interest approach to people like Jean Béliveau, Sam Pollock or Saku Koivu. He brought an element that very few sportswriters could approach. It was down to earth, from the heart and always very meaningful. When Red and I would get distracted from my seeing him as a patient and I’d express my hockey worries about solving this, that or the other, he’d say, “Doc, it’s only a game. Red always tells it like it is. We don’t always agree but we have a respect for one another which goes along with a long relationship.”

Steve Shutt, Canadiens Hall of Famer: “Red is from a different era of reporting, and he was one of the last reporters for whom many of the stories were off the record. That was an era when reporters travelled with the guys. They were part of the team, and there was a lot of stuff that went on that he knew he could write and couldn’t write. The guys respected that. That era is long gone. If some of the guys had a problem, they might even go to him as a liaison. Some of the best times I had with him were when we were doing the radio broadcasts for CJAD, between periods. Some of the stuff we did was hilarious. I remember one time we were talking about salaries. He asked me how much I made in my first year and I said $100,000. He said, ‘How many goals did you score?’ I told him eight. ‘How many did you score the next year?’ I told him 15. ‘How many the third year?’ Thirty, I told him. He said, ‘THAT’S when I would have paid you the $100,000.’ So the next week, I pulled out one of his articles from the 1950s. He was talking about some guy being a hipper-dipper left-winger, and I’m reading this on the air, killing myself laughing. He just grabbed it out of my hands and threw it out the booth into the Forum seats below.”

Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs Hall of Fame goalie: “Red was a gentleman through and through. I wish him all the best in his retirement. I haven’t heard a bad word from anybody, that he criticized the players. He called it the way he saw it. He was always fair to everybody and he really treated me real good.”

Glen Sather, New York Rangers president and GM and one of Fisher’s best friends in hockey: “We’ve had lots of fun together, lots of laughs. When I played in Montreal, Red was kind enough to talk to me even though I wasn’t a star on the team. We got along well and our relationship just built from there. I told him that (Habs coach) Scotty Bowman had once asked me a bunch of questions about the strategic part of the game (while Sather was playing), and I told him what I thought. Red said to me, ‘What did he tell you after that?’ And I said that Scotty told me I’m be back next year. ‘No,’ Red said, ‘you’re going to be traded for sure after he said that to you.’ And of course, Red was right. I had him come to Banff and speak to kids at our hockey school for a couple of years. Of course, I overpaid him. He’d talk to the kids about life in the NHL, tell them stories about players – Rocket, Béliveau, all the great stars around the league. The kids were just mesmerized by him. We hiked, we were up and down the mountains, we had dinners together. (Red’s wife) Tillie was with him, of course. I nicknamed her Tillie Terrific. When I call Red to this day, I say, ‘Is Terrific around?’ One thing about Red is that nobody dictates anything to him. (Legendary Canadian painter) Tom Thomson once said, ‘I’m responsible for my life and my work and I’m going to do both in the way that I choose.’ And that’s sort of Red as he decides to retire now. He’s a great guy, He’s got an entire legacy behind him that some players will never understand.”

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